cheney



(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

P. C. CHENEY. scnoo DESK AND SEAT.

Patented Oct. 12,1897.

2 t e e h S ."w e e h s 2.

T .A w D NN EA M E D L '0 P m G S w d 0 M 0 W No. 591,738. Patented Oct. 12,1897.

Tn: mnxs.m:ks w nofcsuwon WASH UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK o. CHENEY, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

SCHOOL DESK AND SEAT.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 591,738, dated October 12, 1897.

Application filed time 29, 1397.

To 00 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK O. CHENEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of N ewYork and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in School Desks and Seats, of which the following is a specification.

As the individual desks and seats now in vogue have been constructed and arranged for school-room purposes it has been found very inconvenient or even impracticable for the scholars to face one-half round or to the rear-as is often desirable for certain class or assembly exercises-without setting the desks so far apart as to be objectionablebecause of the amount of floor-space occupiedfor the reason that the side supports or standards of the desks, especially those of the desks in rear of the seats,interfere with the scholars turning and also render it difficult for him to get into and out of the seat when he is faced to the rear.

It is the object of my invention to produce a desk having a novel support or standard, so that such desks, when arranged in combination with seats as in school-rooms, may be placed as close together as are the desks now in common use, and when thus arranged will allow the scholars to face either to the front or to the rear without interference from the standards and which will permit the scholars to get into and out of the seats easily and with equal freedom whether facing in one direction or the other.

To this end my invention consists of a desk having a single standard of novel form and construction arranged entirely at one end of the desk, the other end being open from the desk proper to the floor.

The seats which are used with desks of this kind should be revoluble or partially so and my invention has for a further object to produce a revoluble seat, all of which I will explain in detail hereinafter.

In order that'my invention may be the better understood, I have in the accompanying drawings illustrated the preferred form thereof without, however, intending thereby to limit my invention to the precise details of construction and arrangement, which for the Serial No. 642,787. (No model.)

standard being in section. Fig. 5 is a sectional viewtaken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a side view of the seat, the back being shown tilted forward and resting on the locking-bolt in full lines and in its normal position in dotted lines.

In the drawings the desk proper is represented by K. It may be of any usual or approved construction, as my invention does not apply thereto. The standard L, which supports the desk, is arranged wholly to one end of the desk, leaving the opposite end free from the desk to the floor, so that the occupant of the seat may easily move into and out of the seat without interference from the standard and also to turn in his seat toward the'free end of the desk.

' The portion of the standard L to which the desk is secured is approximately horseshoeshaped in plan, its ends extending nearly to the center of the desk, so as to give a substantial support thereto. The bottom or floor portion L of the standard is formedwith the legs Z, which are in plan similarly shaped to the upper portion of the standard, but are considerably larger. of the desk the standard is provided with a foot portion Z, which is secured to the floor. A standard of this form gives a firm' support to the desk. I prefer that the'two parts L and L" of the standard should be separate from each other and connected by bolts m, which pass through the overlapping vertically-disposed portions m of the standard. By these means the parts of'the standard are securely united, and at the same time provision is made for avertical adjustment of the desk, as will be understood.

A represents the seat, and B the back thereof. The back is preferably hinged to the seat so that it may have a limited amount of swinging movement, for a purpose pres- Directly under the'end ently to be described, to secure which the angular or curved side pieces I) are secured to the back and hinged to the sides of the seat, as at 1). Metal wearing-pieces Ct are secured to the side edges of the seat and are preferably provided with perforated lugs, to which the side pieces I) are hinged. These wearingpieces are also formed with stops at a, which limit the extent to which the back may be swung or. tilted.

The seat is mounted on the upper end of a support which is secured to the floor the proper distance in front of the desk and is preferably formed of two pieces 0 and O, which are adj ustably secured together, so that the height of the seat may be varied. The upper end of the part C of the support isin the form of a circular head D, which is preferably dish-shaped, its edge flaring outward slightly, so as to form a sort of bead or flange d. This circular bead is engaged by one or morepreferably twoholding-pieces E, secured to the under side of the seat, by which the seat and the support are securely united, yet" so as to allow the seat to turn upon the head D.

j represents stops carried, respectively, by the seat-support and one of the holding-pieces E and preferably so arranged as to limit the movement of the seat to a half-revolution, in

making which the front edge of the seat moves toward the ends of the desks which are open or without obstructing supporting-stan dards.

In order that the seat may be locked in certain predetermined positions, as when facing directly toward the front and toward the rear,

I combine with the seat and its support a locking bolt which is arranged to be operated by the back, so that when the latter is moved into certain positions the seat will be unlocked and free to rotate, but when in its normal position and the seat is properly faced the latter will be locked.

F'represents a sliding bolt, and G a spring bearing thereon and mounted within a casing H, arranged below the seat. This casing is preferably integral with one of the holdingpieces E. The inner end of the bolt is adapted to engage with recesses or notches d, formed in the edge of the head D of the seat-support. The outer end F of the bolt is enlarged and projects beyond the edge of the casing and beneath one of the side pieces b of the back. It is beveled on one side, as represented at f, so that when the side piece rests against it it opposes the action of the spring G and tends to force the bolt into its casing and its inner end into engagement with on of the recesses d.

In order to limit the extent to which the bolt may be moved, I provide it with a proj ection 1 which is arranged to travel in a short groove or recess 1." in the casing.

Under normal circumstances of use the weight of the back bearing upon the beveled head of the locking-bolt holds the latter in engagement with the edge of the head of the seat-support, and whena recess 61 is opposite to the end of the bolt operates to lock the seat against movement. When it is desired to turn the seat, the back is thrown forward sufficiently to lift the side pieces 1) o& the bolt and allow the spring to move the bolt out of engagement with the recess cl. After the seat has been turned sufficiently far to carry the end of the bolt beyond the recess the seat- 7 back may be allowed to again rest upon the end of the bolt 3 but it will not force the bolt inward until the end thereof comes opposite to one of the recesses, the bolt being held out by reason of the engagement of its end with the edge or flange cl of the head D between the recesses. One advantage incident to this is that while the seat is being turned the back is held in an upright position or is even tilted slightly forward, so that it does not extend beyond the rear edge of the seat, thereby lessening the danger of the back striking against the desk as it is turned.

The desks and seats such as I have described do not occupy more floor-space than do those now in general use, and yet, as has "been pointed out, the occupant of the seat may turn his seat directly to the rear without meeting any obstruction from the standards of the desks directly in front and in rear of his seat and may move out of and into his seat with ease, whichever way the seat be turned.

Those improvements which relate to the locking of the seat are simple in construction .and not liable to get out-of order, besides being well concealed from view. As will be understood these improvements may be used vin'connection with turning seats or chairs I whether they be fixed to the floor in a permaj nent relation to a desk or not.

' end of the desk opposite to the standard, and

a lock which holds the seat when it is faced toward the desk, substantially as set forth. 3. The combination with a revoluble seat,

of a locking-bolt, and a movable back arranged to force the look into its locking position, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with a support and a seat arranged to turn thereon, of a lockingbolt arranged to connect the seat and the support and hold the former from turning, and

a pivoted back which engages with the bolt and forces it into its locking position, When the back is in its normal position, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a support having a head formed with recesses or notches, and a seat mounted thereon and adapted to turn thereon, of a sliding bolt mounted on the under side of the seat, and having its inner end adapted to engage with the said recesses or notches, a spring arranged to force the bolt out of engagement with the said recesses, and 

